Electron attachment by chlorine donors in e-beam pumped laser gas mixtures

The electron attachment rate constants of HCl, CCl₄, CH ₃Cl, CH₂Cl₂, NOCL, and ClF have been measured in electron-beam excited mixtures of the chlorine donor in a majority buffer gas. The measurements were made by monitoring the electron current decay after termination of the e-beam pulse, in conditions resembling an e-beam controlled laser discharge. The possible enhancement of attachment due to vibrational excitation of the chlorine donor under e-beam pumping was studied by performing measurements with e-beam currents of 15 and 500 mA/cm². With the exception of methyl chloride, no enhancement was observed. HCl attachment was also measured at 5 A/cm² by a steady-state technique, and vibrational enhancement was still insignificant. The implications of these results for XeCl laser kinetics are discussed.